Adventure Challenge Week 7

The Coquitlam SAR Adventure Skills Challenge is finally over!

Congratulations to all the teams that took part. We hope that (above all) you had fun taking part in these challenges and also got the chance to learn/practice some new skills. We have been very impressed with the quality of the entries each week and it was a pleasure for us to put on this fun event during our special 50th year. You can read all about competition and the various stage’s winners at the Adventure Challenge page.

Our participation in Golden Spike Days has somewhat delayed the marking for the final round and determining the overall winners, but here we go!

The winners of the final round (Trip Planning) are

THE DASHERS!

Congratulations to The Dashers in their second challenge round victory! They took an interesting approach by creating an initial trip plan, doing their hike, and then analyzing and improving their trip plan format for next time. The final result ticked nearly all of the boxes.

The prize this week goes to team KWAZ CREW who were the highest placed team who hadn’t yet won a prize. They are also the only team in the top 6 who hadn’t won a prize – so well deserved!

And the winners of the overall competition are

DIRECTIONALLY CHALLENGED!

Congratulations to team Directionally Challenged and all the other teams for putting in such a great effort over the last two months.

Below is the scoring table for week 7 and the final standings table.

The trip planning exercise was based on a number of different criteria listed below. Teams who used a trip planning app such as AdventureSmart, OVERDUE or Cairn had a good head start on this activity. Our weekly winners will be given a free subscription to OVERDUE to try out. Listed below are the criteria we used to judge this exercise. There are lots of hints here to create that perfect trip plan! A good trip plan increases the chances of SAR finding you in a timely manner.

  • Trip research from multiple sources.
  • Weather forecast consultation.
  • Research on trip plan formats/options.
  • Detail of planned route.
  • Documentation of contingency plans.
  • Accurate start/finish time estimates.
  • A realistic contingency time (after finish) for the emergency contact to call for help.
  • Clear instruction to the emergency contact what to do if they don’t check in (i.e. call 911).
  • Selection of responsible/reliable person(s) as an emergency contact.
  • List of equipment you have with you.
  • Details of all the people in your hiking party.
  • Contact numbers of people in your party (so SAR can call them in a search).
  • Appearance details of those in your party (so SAR know what to look for, particularly clothing).
  • Vehicle details (helps SAR determine LKP).
  • Quality of final trip report.

Here are the prizes to be awarded to this week’s winners.

This week’s prizes awarded to Kwaz Crew are: (a big thank you to this week’s sponsors)

AND FINALLY!! (we’re not quite finished yet)

We are going to be holding a special wrap up event at Parkside Brewery in Port Moody. This will take place in August (date to be confirmed – 8/10/15 or 17). We’ll be awarding prizes, discussing the challenges, taking questions and providing the opportunity for teams to meet other teams and Coquitlam SAR members. Guaranteed to be a lot of fun! We’re hoping to get confirmation of the event date from Parkside in the next few days so watch this space.

Best regards,

Steve Chapman

Director of Community Education

Coquitlam Search and Rescue